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coatings and other major consumer industries, including producers of
printing inks, plastics, rubber, paper, leather goods, textiles, etc. The
demand for these pigments is expected to increase significantly for
the next five years due to the faster replacement of pigments based on
lead chromate and molybdate.
The industry as a whole has experienced the effects of the world crisis
this year, which has actually hit foreign pigment manufacturers
harder than Brazilian importers. Prices have increased for some of the
rawmaterials used in organic pigment formulations, while the Brazi-
lian economy has displayed signs of slow growth this year, and many
manufacturers have lower their consumption expectations, leading to
a slight decrease in sales of organic pigments. For the second half of
the year, however, the industry has shown some recovery thanks to tax
incentives from the government and the resulting rise in its sales flow.
While the industry is more mature today, it is seeking alternatives to
provide it with a better cost-benefit ratio, and suppliers are required
to come up with solutions that can deliver it. In addition, in the face of
global concerns about health and the environment, Brazil has gained
a good position by rapidly introducing developments in these areas, so
much so that suppliers have been replacing inorganic pigments, whi-
ch contain heavy metals, with high-performance organic pigments.
Alkyd Resins - Green Formulation
The market for alkyd resins continues growing and with bright pros-
pects for the next few years. This is because the technological innova-
tions for this market are being developed by means of rawmaterials
from renewable sources, with an emphasis on low-odor, lower-VOC,
high-solids waterborne formulations.
Alkyd resins are used in a wide range of applications and provide key
properties, such as gloss, resilience, hardness, weatherability, curing,
leveling, easy application, outstanding adhesion to a variety of surfa-
ces, color strength, etc. Most importantly, however, much of the raw
materials used in alkyd resin formulations, such as vegetable oil-based
polyols, are produced from renewable sources.
Price increases, a potential short supply in the future and evermore
stringent environmental requirements are some of the factors that
have been leading manufacturers to develop new technologies for
replacing oil derivatives in their product formulations. Accordingly,
alkyd resin manufacturers have been seeking to use rawmaterials
from renewable sources that can replace those produced from fossil
fuels.
Used in industrial, automotive and furniture coatings, decorative
paints and printing inks, which specific properties for each segment,
alkyd resins have stood out for their innovations in the form of low-
-odor, low-VOC, high-solids waterborne formulations
Thickeners - Perfect Viscosity Adjustment
Indispensable to paint formulations, thickeners act directly on the
control of viscosity, prevent setting and contribute to leveling and
spread properties, among others, ensuring a finish without any flaws
like sagging, for example.
Thickeners play a fundamental role in paint formulations with the
most varied of functionalities, but their primary function is to ensure
appropriate rheological properties in coating systems. Paints are
subject to varying levels of shear forces from storage to application.
Therefore, the purpose of thickeners in paints is to provide the right
rheology to respond to those forces, thereby keeping them homoge-
neous and making them easier to apply, while reducing splattering